The name was first published in 1861 as "Tul'yagmyut," an Eskimo word meaning "related to loon." The 1880 U.S. Census noted a population of 150 living in the village. A city government was formed in 1970 but was dissolved on March 7, 1997.

Culture

Tuluksak is a traditional Yup'ik Eskimo village with a fishing and subsistence livelihood.

It can be accessed by a state-owned wide gravel airstrip year-round. There are no docking facilities, although cargo barges deliver during the summer. In the summer of 2014, the river was too low for barges to travel there. This meant that barges were unable to deliver fuel to the village. Residents use fishing boats, skiffs, snow machines, and ATVs for local transportation.